


Do you want to play a game?

by myotishia



Series: Call of the void [9]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Gen, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:34:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22743343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: After his second run in with cannibals Ianto's having trouble coping. Meanwhile someone is plotting behind the scenes.New reader? Start righthere
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Owen Harper/Toshiko Sato
Series: Call of the void [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580095
Kudos: 19





	1. Having a bad day

Gwen stepped into the tourist information office from the hidden door, a medium sized box in her arms. Ianto had asked for it earlier in the day so he could sort what was still relevant in there. She’d expected him to be in his usual spot but he wasn’t. She placed the box down behind the desk.

“Ianto?”

No reply. She did hear a slight snuffling from the back room though. Peeking around she saw him, knees to his chest in the corner. 

“Ianto? Oh poppet, what’s wrong?” She rushed over and knelt next to him, resting a hand gently on his arm. 

He didn’t look up, his shoulders shaking slightly. “Sorry… Sorry. I… I should… I…”

“You just tell me what happened, yea?” 

“I closed my eyes for a second and... “ He looked up, puffy eyed and she realised he was holding his shirt with one hand, guarding his chest. “I thought… I thought I…”

She pulled him into a hug, resting her chin on the top of his head as he sobbed. It had been two weeks since he’d been kidnapped and to this point he’d been acting as if nothing had happened. At least to most of them. She’d seen Jack checking on him more often and making sure nothing in the hub rattled. He wasn’t holding up as well as he wanted everyone to think. She had to admit she’d had a few nightmares since but she knew it would be nothing compared to what Ianto was going through. He hadn’t spoken about it. 

His sobs subsided a little as she hushed him softly, the panic attack easing into a low exhaustion. “Sorry.”

“No, no, don’t be sorry. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I just… I thought I didn’t remember that bit. So when it started I couldn’t… It’s like I was there.”

“But you’re not. You’re safe here, with us.”

“They wanted you all there. They said they were going to feed me to you.”

“Oh god… Listen, they didn’t though, did they. They’re gone… You shouldn’t be here in this state.”

“I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“I know you’re moving but your flat looks like nothing ever happened.”

“Not alone. I can’t be alone… I just want to sleep… After Lisa I drank it all away… The beacons I… I can’t do that.”

“Ianto… Did you…?”

“I couldn’t bring myself to do it at home… I came here of all places. Jack walked in just as I kicked the chair away. He cut me down and didn’t let me leave until I was in a better mindset. Or at least until I wasn’t a danger to myself anymore… I hadn’t slept right in a week. I’ve been better since the medication but this…”

“You know I’m always here. I don’t care what time of day or night. If you need to talk or you need to be anywhere then call me and I’ll be right with you. Ok?”

He nodded softly before scoffing. “Owen was so angry when Jack told him. He said if I’d gone through with it he’d have found a way to bring me back just to punch my lights out.”

“That’s Owen for you.” She smiled. “I would have helped him too.”

“That was back when Owens double was still around so he probably would have jumped back in time to stop me and punch me there and then.”

“No, he would have gotten Elise to punch you.”

“She would have done it.”

“Then apologised… Why don’t we go out for lunch? You’ve been stuck in here for a while. Can’t be good for you.”

“She’s right.” Came a voice from the doorway. Jack smiled softly. “I wondered what was taking so long. Thought I’d check on you. Take a long lunch, both of you. I’ll call you if anything happens.” 

“I’m ok now.” Ianto said unconvincingly as he pulled himself up and dusted himself off. 

“That’s an order. You need some fresh air.”

Gwen patted the dust from her trousers. “And sunlight. You need vitamin D.” She heard Jack take in a breath to speak and pointed at him. “Don’t!”

He held his hands up in surrender, suppressing a laugh, just happy that it had brought a slight smile to Iantos lips. 

Tosh tapped away, updating her records of what UNIT had collected as Elise sat behind her, braiding her hair. She was taking a break from drawing up schematics for a possible upgrade to the lift, among other ease of use upgrades around the hub. She’d been reading up on the earthquake that had destroyed most of the train tunnels and a huge chunk of everything else. This left certain areas abandoned or just too annoying to use.

“Once you’re done-” She began. 

Tosh barely paused from her work. “Yes?” 

“Fancy doing some hub exploration with me?”

“Hub exploration? I didn’t know there was anything left to explore.”

“Up there. There are a load of rooms both above and below Myfanwys nest. They’re just such a bitch to get to that I don’t think anyone uses them.”

“Weren’t they destroyed? I thought most of them collapsed.”

“Most but not all. There were full on appartments up there. Some of which had been reinforced to help hold this whole place up. Those couldn’t have collapsed because otherwise this whole place wouldn’t exist.”

“Are you planning on digging to get to them?”

“Of course not. This place was built like an ants nest. There are multiple tunnels everywhere. Here.” She tied a band around the end of the braid and brought up a hologram with her wrist comp. “I built this from all the records of any work ever done on this place. It wasn’t easy but-” The 3d model turned and part of it enlarged. “This bit here is still accessible. It’s just been blocked off by locking the door.” 

Tosh smiled at the intricate 3d map. “You put this together?”

“Yea. I didn’t want to be clanging around so I started playing with the 3d modeling programme. It started with the archives and the sub basements, then I started getting into the history of the place and boom. This is the whole hub.”

“There are so many closed off areas. So all of these are inaccessible?”

“They’re either too unstable to be explored, filled with rubble, or closed off for good reason. These in green are the ones I’ve been wanting to look at. Here are the living areas. These two were kinds of labs from what I can tell and this one… Well, there aren’t any records of what it was used for.” 

“How long did this take you?”

“A week, week and a half if you count getting used to the programme.”

Tosh pushed away her keyboard and turned her body to fully face Elise, leaning forward to lift her chin. 

“What? I know it took me ages to learn all the short cuts and s-” She was cut off by a kiss. 

“Is this a party? Can I be invited?” Jack beamed as he walked in.

Tosh blushed and giggled. “It’s a private party, sorry.”

“Shame. At least I didn’t miss anything.”

“You are the man we were waiting for though.”

“Oh now that’s what I like to hear.” He scooted around to lean on her desk. “How can I help?”

“Eli’s been looking into the layout of the hubs upper floors. Show him the model.” 

“Huh?” Elise shook herself back to reality. “The map. Right, right, yea.” She reactivated the 3d model that had switched to standby when she let her arm drop.

Jack studied the model. “Impressive. But why?”

“I was thinking of seeing what’s been left up there.”

“And?”

“And?”

“You’ve got a plan.”

Elise sighed. “Ianto’s been having trouble finding somewhere and he can’t sleep down in your bunker forever so I was thinking that maybe, if the structure is as sound as I think it is, I could renovate an upper floor so he could stay here but have space.”

“Have you told him?”

“Not yet. I wanted to see if it was a viable option first.”

He paused and then walked into his office, digging around in one of the draws. Finally he pulled something out of the bottom draw and carried it back. “You’ll need this.” He held out an old brass key. “Just be careful up there.” 

She took it, examining the solid old key, turning it over in her hand. “Thanks… If those areas are all locked off. I’m guessing forever was the plan. Why keep the key?”

“I have trouble letting go of keys I know still have locks. Gwen and Ianto are taking a long lunch if you want a break before you get started.”

“Want to come along?”

“I don’t think you’ll find anything I haven’t seen before.”

“As long as you’re sure. We could drag Owen along.”

“And what will his job be?”

“Necessary sarcasm.” 

Gwen sat in the chair across from Ianto, sighing and dropping her bag by her feet. “Sorry I took so long. I ended up behind the most indecisive person in the world.”

“I don’t mind… I usually hate it when it’s this crowded but today it’s like I need a bit of noise.”

“It helps to remind yourself the rest of the world exists.”

“I think I’d be ok if I could get a few good nights of sleep.”

“I thought you’d moved onto Jacks sleeping schedule.”

“Not really. I think it must take less sleep the longer you’re alive. The same as healing.”

“We were worried about you on the way back… Owen wouldn’t leave your side and Tosh was holding your hand the whole way back.”

“Usually Elise would be the one doing that.”

“She would have but she couldn’t stop crying and she didn’t want that to be the first thing you saw when you woke up. Seriously, she didn’t stop until you had already healed up. We thought she was going to get dehydrated.”

He smiled. “I used to think you all just saw me as just the cleaner. Replaceable.”

“Maybe for a couple of days when I first started, but in my defence you made sure you stayed out of sight. And you were never just replaceable, even if you didn’t want to open up to anyone just yet.” She reached over the small table and took his hand. “Don’t know what we’d do without you.”

“Thanks.” He brushed his thumb over her knuckles. “This is the first time I’ve been more scared about living than dying. Just, the idea of having to come back and go through it all again. At least being scared of death, you only have to be scared for so long and then… Whatever happens happens.”

“We wouldn’t let that happen. Never will… Well, I won’t be around forever but Tosh, Jack and Owen will be. Let’s face it, those three alone could save you from anything.”

“Isn’t it unfair?”

“What?”

“You won’t be around too.”

“I’m one hundred percent ok with that.”

“Really?”

“No offence but I just can’t see myself still being the same as I am now when Anwen grows up. Plus, I don’t think I’d cope with just watching Rhys grow old and… Just be left behind. I want to get old and a bit senile with him. I want to be able to meet whoever she ends up falling in love with and not have to tell them I’m her older sister or something.”

“I’ve never really thought about it like that. What am I going to tell my sister? The kids… Saying I’m just lucky with genetics is only going to work for so long.”

“We’ve got plenty of time before we need to worry about anything like that.”

A waitress interrupted as she placed down their plates. 

The stairway to the upper levels was dark and dusty, footprints from years prior preserved as if time had stood still. The hinges to the door had seized so it had taken a lot to get it open, so it sat ajar behind them. The handrail too was dusty, as if the whole place had been closed off without any kind of investigation. 

“I hope the tea boy likes stairs.” Owen grumped, not impressed with how many flights of stairs he’d had to climb even to this point. 

Elise rolled her eyes. “If the structure’s as stable as I think it is then I can build a new walkway and add a level to the lift. I’m planning to upgrade the lift anyway so why not?”

“Do you have a work force we don’t know about?”

“No, but if I put my all into it, it should only take a few months. Give or take time to clean the place and get the parts for the lift.”

Tosh tugged on Elises sleeve. “You’re going to burn yourself out.”

“I’ll be careful. Ah here we go. This should be the way into some of the living areas.” She pushed open an old wooden door to reveal an abandoned, victorian, corridor. The lights hung on the walls were in perfect condition but knowing how they were wired Elise chose to illuminate the area with her high powered lantern instead. The walls were covered in patterned wallpaper but the floor was still in its hardwood state. Each door had once been varnished but the coating had started to peel off with age and the low level moisture in the air. Elise pulled a small device from her pocket and pressed the tip into the wall, seemingly content with the number that flashed on the screen.

“Looks like the damp hasn’t gotten into the walls, so that’s a good sign.” She smiled, moving to open the first door on the right. A thin beam of light shone into the room from a window that had been covered with years of dust and the remnants of coal dust.

“I didn’t realise there were even windows up here.” Tosh marvelled. “Wouldn’t the lift be an issue? People seeing in?”

Elise took a handkerchief from her pocket and rubbed a little of the dust away. “They probably had thin curtains. Come and take a look at this view.”

She walked over and looked down at the hub below. It seemed so much further down than it actually was but the multitude of lights almost looked mystical from so far away. Owen hung back and picked up a leather bound book which had been discarded on a desk that had seen better days. The writing inside was impeccably neat and though there was no year written on any of the pages, each had a day and month. It was someones diary. He browsed through the pages looking for anything interesting. The last entry caught his eye.

_ Wednesday 2nd April. _

_ My visions have become intolerable. Last night I could not settle to sleep so I descended down to the station masters office. He was nowhere to be found, but as I turned back I saw an awful apparition. It held the shape of a man but it could not have been. It was surely a wraith, its eyes black as pitch and form not quite able to solidify. It stood with a woman, though she was dressed as a man, and they spoke. I could not hear what was said before the wraith began a tirade. Quiet at first but culminating in a wail that shook me to my very soul. For that moment I realised the wraith was not a wraith at all but a man. He fell to his knees, weeping like a babe pulled from its mother. The woman held him in his grief. I found that I too was weeping for this vision as it faded. I regained my composure and turned to return to my chamber when another vision began. The bodies of both men and women strewn across the floor. They were surely dead. The one who had ended their lives stood over them. He too was weeping but in self pity instead of the fear of the wraith. The man in blue entered the room. I have seen him many times. No matter the look of those around him he always looks the same. He stood in disbelief, his heart breaking, as he tried to ask why the other man had done this. For a moment he spoke before placing his weapon to his head. The air filled with a plume of red and once more I was left alone. It has been a long time since I last had this many visions in one day and a fear it is a sign of things to come. I returned to my chambers and sat to write this. As I sit I see the wraiths companion. She is curled in the corner of the room. Her eyes as black as pitch. She stares into me and I fear she may not be the being my vision presented. I hear her sobs from the shadows. She asks me to help her but my fear keeps me in place.  _

_ Her sobs have become screams. I cannot sleep. I cannot take this any longer. The moment I am done here I will flee to my mothers home.  _

_ I pray she does not follow me. _

He closed the book, deciding he’d take it back to get a better look at its contents. The two women were busy taking measurements so they didn’t notice how distracted he’d been. 

“Well this one’s viable for modification. On to the next I suppose. There is that one room that I can’t work out what it’s for. We can get to it from the outer corridor.” Elise smiled. 

Tosh shrugged and looked to Owen. 

He wafted some dust from his face. “A room in the hub that’s been locked away for ages that we have no idea what it was used for. What could go wrong?”

“It’s probably just storage.” Toshiko made her way to the outer corridor and through towards the unidentified room.  __

Gwen yawned, the large meal having made her sleepy. “Feeling better?”

“A bit. Thanks.” Ianto smiled softly. “I needed to talk about it I suppose.”

“Sometimes that’s all it takes.” She stretched, her shoulders aching lightly. For a moment she swore she could feel eyes on her. Looking around she didn’t see anyone.

“What’s wrong?”

“I thought someone was watching us.”

He turned but didn’t see anything. 

“I must be imagining it.” She jumped slightly as her phone bleeped. “Looks like duty calls. It’s just an address.”

“Why didn’t Jack just call us like usual?”

“No idea.”

“Did he say anything else at all?”

“Not a thing.” She took her earpiece from her pocket. “What’s going on?”

Tosh was the first to reply. “The message? I have no idea. I just got the same one. It says it’s from Jack but it doesn’t seem right. We’re going to go and ask him. Are you nearby?”

“Not too far. We’ll meet you in the hub.”

Jack wasn’t completely sure what just happened. He’d decided as everyone else was taking a long lunch he’d catch up with some of the minutia he’d been avoiding. Anyway, even he needed fresh air once in a while. He knew the Cardiff streets like the back of his hand, and rightly so with how long he’d spent there. So he could just let his mind wander as he walked. He hadn’t been running around so much since the weevils had been given the idea that staying in one place was the only option. In past years he would have travelled while it was so quiet. Maybe he’d ask Ianto if he wanted to go with him. The idea made him smile. It was at that moment a strong chemical smell filled his head, replaced by cotton wool as he lost consciousness.

“It looks like Jack left after we went to explore upstairs. I can only follow him so far though. There are no cameras on his route. That address is on it though.” Said Tosh, a growing unease rising in her. 

Ianto gripped the back of her chair. “Have you tried to contact him?”

“That was the first thing I did. No reply to texts, emails, won’t answer calls. I tracked his phone and he is at that address.”

“This is definitely a trap. Jack always signs his text messages, even in emergencies.”

“Agreed. Whoever’s doing this must know by now that their plan to lure us there hasn’t worked.”

Iantos phone rang displaying Jacks name. He set it on loudspeaker. “Hello?”

A digitised voice pierced the air. “If you want your captain returned in one piece, then all of you will attend the address given by three PM. Unarmed. Any resistance will be met with unfortunate consequences for your leader. If you do not attend by three PM we will begin sending your leader back limb by limb.” The call ended abruptly. 

After a short silence Gwen began. “We haven’t got a choice.”

“We can’t just walk in there unarmed.” Owen crossed his arms, trying to think of anything they could do.

“I agree, but as long as we appear unarmed we can work from there.” She pointed to Elise who pulled up her sleeve and entered the code to open the access panel. 

“How much can you fit in there?”

Elise shook her head. “It’s not about how much. It’s about what to bring. I have the digital lockpick in my hand. A couple of the sonic shields could be important.”

“One of the blades. They can cut through walls, even if we don’t use them to fight.”

“A digital interference generator could help stop whoever this is keeping track of us.” Tosh added.

“Weevil bands. Smoke grenades would be too big. We should leave everything we don’t critically need behind.” Gwen tossed her phone onto her desk with her keys. “Whoever they are can’t take what we don’t bring them.” 

Wendy Alice Wells smiled as the group entered the previously derelict building. She pressed one button to lock the doors and a second to release the sedative gas into the room. Her brother may have died swiftly but the ones who killed him wouldn’t. No, she wanted them to suffer for not only his death but also their part in disgracing his name. She’d taken a long time contacting as many of those still loyal to her brother to pull her revenge plan off. She delighted in watching them be dragged into the back of a van by her co-conspirators. She was done playing UNITs games. It was time to play a game of her own. 


	2. Let the games begin

Jack groaned and rubbed his temples. The headache was always a sign that whoever had knocked him out had given him much more of whatever sedative than they should have. Not enough to kill him but not healthy either. His eyes adjusted to the low light and realised he wasn’t alone. Ianto was sat against the wall next to him.

“What happened? Where are we?” The captain asked, his throat feeling raw and slightly burned. 

Ianto looked up from the floor. “We’ve been kidnapped. And I don’t know.”

“How did they get you?”

“By threatening to send you to us in pieces.” He frowned deeply, glancing away, his eyes sparkling. Jack wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“You’re going to be ok. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

“Sorry. I’m not holding up as well as I thought I would.”

“Thought you would?” He looked around the room at the other figures in the shadows. “You got kidnapped intentionally?” 

Gwen nodded. “Universal antidote under the tongue. Play dead and track where we’re taken. Leave the address with Andy, just in case. Get here, work our way out, and find out who’s behind this.”

“Don’t you think they’ll be monitoring us?”

“They’re probably trying. At most they’ll be able to get some grainy footage and a lot of buzzing. We smuggled in a few things to help us.” Tosh nodded to Elise, who was glaring daggers up at a camera. “She’s planning to break someones fingers when she finds out who deserves it.”

Eli turned and huffed. “It took all my willpower to not deck the bastard trying to cop a feel while moving me.”

“I’m sure you’ll get your chance.” She returned to examining the ring around Owens neck. 

Jack reached to his own neck, finding a copy of Owens. In fact all of them had these locked around their necks. One of the three green lights on Owens collar turned red and Tosh immediately let go. 

“Careful.” Owen said, staying very still until the light shifted back to green. “I really don’t fancy getting my head blown off.” 

She sighed. “I highly doubt that would be how this band works. The mechanism is more likely to tighten than explode.”

“Not comforting Tosh.”

“Sorry, but that’s most likely how it works. It’s obviously got some kind of anti tampering mechanism. They’re either controlled remotely or will be triggered if we leave a certain area. If it’s remote then I don’t want to risk opening Elises wrist computer to block the signal as they’ll be faster than I will.”

“Can’t we just cut it off?”

“If I cut one off the others could be activated.”

Jack shook his head. “This was a bad idea. But being as we’re here we should see what they want. Lower the interference.”

Tosh turned the dial on the small device hidden in her pocket. After only moments the old TV screen on one wall lit up. It showed a blank white screen and the same digitised voice spoke from the muffled speakers.

“You’re awake. As you may now have realised you are trapped in this room. If you try to escape, or refuse to cooperate the collars you’re wearing will close and choke you to death. There is a red box in the middle of the room. It needs six keys to open. I will give you each a task to complete. If you are successful you will be rewarded with a key. If you die, the key will be given to the other members of your group. If you damage the box, the collars will activate. Inside the box you will find, not only the reason you are here, but also the key to your freedom. You will find a number written on the back of your right hands. When your number is called you will enter the door that opens and follow the instructions inside.” 

The screen flickered out.

“Well that was… um…” Gwen began.

Elise rolled her eyes. “Cliche? Like everybody’s seen Saw before.”

“We know where to find the key to the door out anyway.”

The screen lit up again with the number one in black shown. 

Tosh looked at her hand. “That’s me.” 

A door slid open, hidden in the red wall. 

Tosh stood and entered, seeing a clear box on a table with a key inside. The door slid closed behind her. There was a piece of paper sitting next to the box on the table.

_ Player number one. The key to your freedom is locked inside this box. There is a button that will open it somewhere in this room. How much are you willing to go through to help your companions? _

She turned to study the rest of the room. There were holes in the walls, each numbered, wide enough to fit your hand in. It didn’t take a genius to work out that the button was hidden in one of them. Toshiko could be nieve sometimes but she wasn’t stupid. She patted her pockets, finding she still had her penlight in the upper right pocket inside her coat. She pulled it from her pocket and shone it into each of the dark arm holes. They lead quite far back and each was lined with a mix of rusty nails and razor blades, which could easily cut deep enough to hit a vein. At the very back of number six she spotted a switch. 

“Great.” She sighed, looking back for anything she could push the switch with that wasn’t her hand. The table was wooden so one of the legs would do. She carefully tilted the table back, noting the box was attached to it, with the wires running down the back. With a swift kick one of the table legs snapped off, skittering across the floor. It was more than long enough to hit the button. She jabbed it into the gap and clicked the switch. The second it was switched a blade fell, jamming itself into the wooden table leg where her wrist would have been. Nice to know that without some lateral thinking there was no way to win. The box clicked open and Tosh grabbed the key, the hidden door sliding open again to show five very concerned faces trying to see inside. She smiled and held up the silver key. 

“I think you were closer with the Saw comparison than we thought.” 

“If that’s the game they’re trying to play, whoever goes in next should at least take the blade with them. Just in case it’s a trap that’s not so easily avoided.” Jack sighed as Tosh finished explaining what her challenge had been. 

Owen looked at him in surprise. “You still want to carry on following their rules?”

“How many people do you think it took to put all of this together? I get the feeling that even if we got these collars off in time we could still end up dead. Not the end of the world for some of us but…”

“Not so great for the mortals here.” Gwen grumbled, rubbing at the ink on the back of her hand. “We should turn off the interference before they start getting suspicious.”

As the interference faded the screen lit up with the number two. A door opened across from the first and Ianto stood silently. He took a deep breath then walked though. 

The floor of the room was littered with long spikes that seemed to grow from the cement. A table set to the side held a single piece of paper. 

_ Player two. The key to your freedom is hanging at the centre of this room. You walk a fine line between good and evil. Let’s hope you have such good balance now. _

He balled up the paper and threw it down, done with the theatrics of all of this. He wasn’t just going to carefully try and dance between the spikes. That would be too obvious. He looked up to the dark ceiling and realised the pipes that ran over could be his ticket across. Using the table to get some extra height, he pulled himself up onto the pipes. It was snug but not the tightest space he’d ever had to crawl through. The pipes could easily hold his weight and didn’t even creak as he made his way towards the centre of the room. The key was hanging from a long string that, as he got closer, he could see was attached to a release mechanism of some kind. He couldn’t exactly see to what as the light was practically nonexistent, and he couldn’t reach the penlight he’d been given with the position he was in, but he knew there were two large metal plates creating a kind of roof above the key. He pulled it up and pocketed the key. Curiosity kept the end of the string in his hand as he carefully made his way back across the pipes. As soon as the pin was pulled the two sheets fell, sandwiching whatever was underneath between them. Each heavy plate decorated with more of the spikes. The clang of metal on metal resonated around the room. He was so glad he’d decided to climb. As his feet hit the floor the door slid open again and he took the key from his pocket, tossing it next to the box. 

“There is no winning here. If we weren’t so paranoid there’s no way we could have survived this crazy whoevers tests.” Ianto grumbled. “Why are we still playing along?”

Jack shook his head. “We’re not  **just** playing along. If we just power our way out we’ll probably be fine, but then the mastermind behind all this has a chance to escape and regroup. Do something that we have no chance of surviving. Each of these tests say a lot about who planned them. They want us to hurt ourselves. They don’t want any guilt on their shoulders so they probably haven’t killed anyone before. They’re not some genius as they haven’t covered basic lateral thinking solutions. It’s all for show.”

“But it’s definitely personal. Not that we haven’t got a list of people who’d love to see us dead a mile long. The men who dragged us in sounded military but their boss didn’t. We didn’t hear them directly but the replies made it pretty clear.” Gwen lent heavily on her knees, letting her eyes wander to the box. “They want at least one of us to open that box. They want us to know. They want to think we deserve all this.”

Elise was sat playing with Tosh’s hair with her left hand, or that’s what it looked like. “They’re going to get a slap. That’s what they’re going to get.” She took her hand away. “Check if it worked. 

Tosh tugged at her collar, all three lights staying green. “It did.”

“Care to explain?” Asked Jack. 

Elise held up her hand. “Digital lockpick. Whoever they are can think they’re in control while these are useless. It pays to be a walking multitool.”

“Unlock Gwens next. In the meantime we should see what the next room has to offer.”

Owen was next up and entering the room he was ready for anything. Almost anything, anyway. He grabbed the note left on a table to his left. 

_ Player three. I’ve been told you deal with the same space vermin as UNIT. Let’s see if you can deal with a more terrestrial kind of vermin. _

He looked over to the large tank full of rats and rolled his eyes. They looked skinny and filthy. Poor little bastards. That said, he wasn’t just going to stick his hand in there. That was asking for a myriad of diseases and infections that he definitely didn’t want. He also had to work out what the secondary trap was before he even considered retrieving the key hidden underneath the writhing mass of rodents. The tank itself was fixed to the floor so he guessed there was something hidden under there. If he put his hand into the small hatch in the top of the tank, he guessed that he’d end up stuck somehow. He needed a hook or a magnet to fish the key out without losing a limb. He took a small bag out of his jacket pocket and unfolded it to show a selection of sterile stitching needles. It felt like a waste but needs must. He just hoped the rats wouldn’t immediately chew through the thread. He slipped the needle though the hatch and lowered it, carefully trying to hook it under the looped handle of the key. Not the easiest task with a hoard of starving rats running around. 

“Come on you little … Shit… Just… Got you!” The needle slipped just under the metal ring and he pulled the key from the tank. Like he thought the sides of the hatch closed in enough to firmly hold anything thicker than the handle of a brush. In a sudden flash and the horrific sound of squeaking the inside of the tank lit up in bright, hot, flames. Owen shielded his eyes with his arm and stumbled back. The door opened and he rushed though, slumping against the door as soon as it closed behind him. 

“They know what UNIT and we do. Limits the suspects a bit.” Owen said, one arm wrapped around Toshikos shoulders. 

Jack nodded. “Not enough. But it is a start.”

“They know what we do but they don’t know us personally.” Gwen pointed out. “If they did they would have personalised these tests to our fears but they haven’t. It’s all very brute force.”

“I hope Andy’s ready if this starts falling apart. That is if he managed to follow us.”

“He did. I’m sure of it. Getting enough manpower to help is going to take a while though.” 

“Who’s up next then?” 

“That would be me.” 

Owen passed over the blade and one of the sonic shield pendants to help, and Ianto followed suit with the penlight. If Gwen failed the test there was no getting up again. No hopping back in time. 

She smiled. “Don’t worry. I won’t let one of those ridiculous traps finish me off.”

Gwen took in every detail of the room before her. The centre was webbed with razor wire, each wire pulled taught between the anchor points on the wall. There wasn’t any real space above or below to get through. The key sat in plain sight across the other side of the room. She grabbed the piece of paper from the table to her right. 

_ Player four. How does it feel to trap innocent people in your web of lies. This time you will have to make sure you don’t get tangled in a web of your own. _

She dropped the note back on the table and took the blade from her pocket. She wasn’t going to cut them all down, just make a clear path. As the psychic knife swept through the first wire it sprang violently towards the other wall. She’d have to be careful not to get caught by the flailing wire as well as the razors. Starting low would be safest. Each wire sprang back as it was cut, the sound of rattling wires getting louder with each move. She pulled herself under the mesh and clambered up to grab the key, her free hand hovering over the sonic shield pendant around her neck. The moment the key was locked between her fingers she hit the pendant. All of the leftover wires sprang at once, lashing out as they curled through the air, leaving deep gouges in the walls and floor. The shield did its job but it was still unnerving to see hundreds of tiny razors bounce off the invisible barrier. If she’d been standing there without it she would have been, not only, sliced by the metal but wrapped up in it too. She edged around the bundle of razor wire settling in the middle of the floor and made for the open door. 

“There was no way anyone could get out of there unscathed. The letter was a bit more personal though.” Gwen said, playing with her newly retrieved key. 

Elise looked around. “Haven’t you worked out who it is yet?”

“Have you?”

“Not exactly but I’m pretty certain who they’re linked to.”

“Oh?”

“Someone linked with the inner workings of UNIT. Has a vendetta against us. Is dead.”

“Dead men can’t build things.”

“No but their friends and family can. Captain Wells died but the rest of his crew were taken into UNIT custody. The ones who were there anyway.” There was something in her eyes, some faint guilt covered by an anger that she wasn’t sure how to express. Her back itched. 

“Are all the collars unlocked?”

Jack nodded. “Let’s get this over with.” 

Gwen handed the pendant and blade to Elise, noting the number five written on the back of her hand. 

The fifth trap room had metal floors and walls, and the smell of ozone strong in the air. Electricity. Elise guessed the panels that made up the room were live, the only thing between her and electrocution being the rubber soles of her boots. She picked up the letter from the table. 

_ Player five. Losing someone is like a burning in your soul. By now I’m sure you’re starting to understand. Your world is made to make you feel what I have.  _

She balled it up and threw it across the room. 

“When I’m out of here, you and me are going to talk! You hear me?!” She growled to the microphone she was sure was hidden somewhere. She walked over to a set of six holes in the wall, each much too small to fit your hand in without touching the wall around it. She peeked into each, finding the key. Without blinking she jammed her left hand into the weakest part of the metal, peeling it back as sparks jumped from one bit to another. As soon as she had the key in hand she felt the rooms temperature begin to rise. The air crackled but the door hadn’t opened yet. 

“Yea, ok, I’m done with this now.” She reached up and crushed the mechanism for the door, pulling it back on its rails. She tossed the key down and closed the sliding door as best as she could behind her. 

“You ok?” Asked Owen, seeing the indents left in the door. 

Elise sat on the floor. “Just… Frustrated. Sorry. Jack, you’re next up. Don’t mess around, ok?”

“I don’t plan to, believe me.”

“They’re going to try and kill you, I’m sure of it. No fancy traps. Just boom, dead.”

“I know… Let them believe they have.”

“What?!” 

Ianto turned sharply. “You’d better not be thinking of-”

“Just trust me.” Jack stood and turned to a suddenly open door. 

Inside the room was blank and empty, just as he expected, bar a single piece of paper pinned to the far wall. 

_ Player five. You and your people took him from me, and now I’m going to take you from them. _

He didn’t need to turn to know someone was standing behind him.

“Go ahead.” He said.

A key fell from a hatch in the wall and Ianto grabbed it. “Damn it.”

“It’ll be ok. Let’s just open the box and get out of here.” Gwen said softly, rubbing his arm. 

Each key fit perfectly in the lock of the corresponding number, clicking loudly as they were turned. The lid popped open. 

Inside was a photograph of Captain Reginald Wells, his death certificate and a letter informing his only family that UNIT would not be honouring him after the incident that had caused his death. At the bottom there was a final key. Elise grabbed it and stood, walking over to the screen before punching through it to access the keyhole hidden behind. Owen grabbed her shoulder. 

“Easy. No use going through all of this then getting shot on the way out.”

“They won't.” She kicked the door open and light swept in. Though there were armed figures they didn’t seem to be aiming at her. “Get out here and talk. I’m done with this childish bullshit. Wells would be ashamed! Of all of you! You’re trying to honour his memory with this?! This?! He’d be spinning in his grave.” Murmurs ran around the room as more than one of the armed men studied the floor. 

“And how would you know?” Hissed a woman with familiar features. 

“So you’re his sister then.”

“I am. Who else could get justice for him now?”

“Justice? You didn’t even know him!”

“What?!” Wendy marched over and slapped Elise across the face. “How dare you?!”

The woman chuckled bitterly. “He hit better than you too.”

“You lied! All of you. You killed him and disgraced his memory. He was a hero!”

“Maybe at one time, but this job… It changes who you are. He handled it badly but in a way I kind of understood. He was scared.”

“He was a brave man.”

“I didn’t say he wasn’t. Being brave doesn’t stop you being scared. Not that you could understand anything about that.”

“Everything he did, he did for his country.”

“No he didn’t. UNIT got their funding back long before he died. He wanted to be a hero figure. I mean he tried to kill me twice and I still respect him more than I do you.” 

“Then you deserved it.”

“Really? An unarmed woman with her hands bound deserved to be beaten up? Deserved to be thrown in a cage with a tortured creature that was so out of its mind it would attack anything in front of it?” Her hands shook, holding back from lashing out at this delusional woman.

“You’re lying! He’d never-” 

Elise pulled her shirt over her head and turned to show the long scars covering her back. “Look at this. This is what your brother did! Your captain! The man you’re all idolising did this because I stopped him killing an elderly doctor because he wouldn’t test on humans. This is your hero!”

Wendy clamped her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her face.

“So how does it feel? To be a murderer, defending a brother you barely even knew.”

She fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. The men around them backed off, looking to each other and dropping their weapons. At that moment the police burst in, prompting a full surrender. 

“I just…” Wendy sobbed. “I’m sorry… God, what have I done?” She was grabbed by two officers who cuffed her hands behind her back and escorted her out. 

Jack walked around the corner. “Feeling better?”

“Not really.” Elise sighed deeply. “I hoped I would but I don’t. How did you-”

“She left the door open. I was going to intervene but you looked like you had things handled.”

Andy rushed through the crowd. “Anyone hurt?”

“No, thankfully.” Gwen called. “Could do with a lift home though.”

Jack pulled the towel off his head, glad to get the dried blood out of his hair. Ianto was sat writing in his journal.

“You held yourself together well earlier.”

He didn’t look up. “I try.”

“You still shouldn’t be at work.”

Ianto closed the leather bound book and set it aside. “I know. I just feel safer here.”

“Has Elise told you her plan yet?”

“Should I be worried?”

Jack chuckled and sat next to him. “She’s thinking of renovating the upper levels of the hub. Making an apartment.”

“What for?”

“For you. The security’s great here and moving into another place would be stressful… If you want to, I mean. Just an option.”

“Technically I’d be moving in with you if I did.”

“Technically you would be. What do you think?”

“It’s an option… Might be nice to have a place that’s been made just for me… No commute.” He shrugged. “Would you be staying down here or…?”

“I could be convinced to climb a few stairs… You know that means you couldn’t invite anyone to visit though.”

“I don’t anyway.”

“What about your sister?”

“I go and see her, or we go out for a coffee. For a while I can just tell her that my new place is a work site. Not really a lie.”

“You can change your mind if this is too much.”

“No. I spend all my time here anyway. Might be nice to have a bigger bed. Bit more storage. Won’t have to climb a ladder every morning.”

“I like watching you climb.”

“You would.” 


End file.
